[ about Harkin ]
The stories worth keeping are closer than we think.
We spend our lives surrounded by people we love. We know their habits, their favorite stories, the things that make them laugh.
And yet, there are entire chapters of their lives we may know almost nothing about.
What were they like at sixteen? What did they dream about becoming? Who broke their heart? What risks did they take? What moments changed the direction of their life?
Too often, we don't think to ask until we no longer can.
We know that feeling personally.
Why we created Harkin.
Over the years, we've lost grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends before we had the chance to ask all the questions we wish we'd asked.
There are stories we'll never hear now. Parts of people we loved that we knew were there, but never had the chance to really know.
That sense of loss — and a desire to know the people in our lives more deeply while we still can — is what led us to create Harkin.
We'd experienced other ways of preserving family memories and loved what they were trying to accomplish. Having someone's stories written down is incredibly meaningful.
But we also saw the limitations.
Capturing a life could feel like work for the very person whose story we wanted to preserve. Questions had to be answered, prompts completed, memories written down. And the results, while meaningful, could sometimes feel formulaic — a collection of answers rather than the story of a life.
We wanted something deeper.
Something that could follow the unexpected places a conversation goes. Something that could ask another question when an interesting memory surfaced, return to a story months later, and gradually come to understand not just what happened in someone's life, but who they are.
And we wanted the result to feel worthy of the story itself.
Not simply a memory book.
An heirloom.
A better way to tell a life story.
Harkin begins with conversation.
There are no questionnaires to complete and no memoir to sit down and write. Harkin simply talks with someone over time, getting to know them and the life they've lived.
One conversation leads naturally to another. A passing memory becomes a story. A story reveals another question. Details connect across months of conversations.
Slowly, a life takes shape.
And when they're ready, Harkin brings those conversations together into something lasting: their story, beautifully told and made into a book their family can keep for generations.
What we believe.
Everyone has a story worth preserving.
A remarkable life doesn't have to be famous. The stories that matter most are often the ones known only to a family.
The best stories come from conversation.
Lives aren't lived in a questionnaire, and they're rarely remembered in chronological order. The best stories surface naturally, one memory leading somewhere you didn't expect.
Technology should bring us closer.
We believe technology is at its best when it helps us understand each other better. Harkin uses it not to replace human connection, but to create more of it.
The object should be worthy of the story.
A life story isn't content. It's something a family may keep for generations. Everything we create should be made with that responsibility in mind.
The people behind Harkin.
Harkin was founded by husband-and-wife team Justin and Shaina.
We're building Harkin because we've experienced what it's like to wish we'd asked more questions.
And because we don't want to make that mistake with the people who are still here.
Our hope is simple: that Harkin helps families know one another more deeply, preserves stories that might otherwise disappear, and creates something future generations will be grateful someone took the time to keep.
Because someday, a story that feels ordinary today may be the one someone would give anything to hear again.